The Mermaids Are Coming

Photo by Paul Kondritz

March of the Mermaids 2015 is fast approaching, soon the shores of Brighton Beach will be swarming with mermaids, mermen, king prawns, jellyfish, pirates and everything in between! I was lucky enough to get to talk to Chief Mermaid Hannah about where March of the Mermaids came from!

Photo by Ivan Gonzalez 

I (figuratively) sat down with Hannah to talk about her role as Chief Mermaid, where the idea came from and what her and her band of Mer are doing for Ocean Conservation.

March of the Mermaids was first seen in 2012 – What inspired you to start something like this?

Other than an obsession with mermaids since childhood and a great love for our seas and sea life, my main inspiration came from years of following the famous Coney Island Mermaid Parade in New York; I thought why isn’t there an event like that here?! After moving to Brighton the ideas fell in to place and I realised this was the perfect place to do it. I contacted Dick Zigun the organizer of The Coney Island Mermaid Parade, who is my absolute hero, and he was very supportive of us doing a similar event here. Three years later, our Facebook event page is telling us almost 1,200 people are set to attend this July!

Photo by Neil W Shaw

In the 2 years that March of the Mermaids has happened, what is the most extreme costume you’ve seen?

We’ve had some great costumes over the last couple of years and it’s difficult to choose! We’ve had a head to toe pink king prawn and an amazing lobster costume, even someone’s three dogs took part last year wearing shark fins. I think the most impressive scale wise last year was a huge pink octopus, it took up the whole width of the parade pretty much and I hear the lady who wore it came all the way from Devon with it!

Photo by Paul Kondritz

Photo by Paul Kondritz

This year you’ve joined forces with Whalefest. Why is it important for you to donate your profits to a charity like this?

I’m really excited to have the support of WhaleFest this year. They are an amazing organization doing wonderful things, we share the same passions and it seemed like a perfect fit that we should do something together. For the last couple of years we raised funds for the Marine Conservation Society, this year we are donating funds to the World Cetacean Alliance which is the charity set up by some of the WhaleFest founders. Each year they set up a new campaign, last year focused on freeing whales in captivity. March of the Mermaids is a lot of fun, but at the heart of it, making people more aware of marine conservation issues and charities that support such campaigns is what the event is all about.

Photo by Andrew Roach

For anyone that hasn’t seen March of the Mermaids before, what can they expect from the event this year?

I have a feeling this year is going to be the busiest year yet, so I'm not too sure what to expect myself just yet! Our parade along the seafront will take us from Hove Lawns where we all meet, right up to our after-party venue on the seafront, Bar Azure. The parade itself has a real carnival feel about it, with samba bands, lots of dancing and lots of very happy sea creatures, I'm pleased that we've managed to make an event all ages can take part and have fun in. Our beach party after-party will have DJ s, real mermaids and the crowning of our Queen Mermaid and King Prawn. And for everyone that would still like to carry on partying after 8pm, at 9pm our official 'Fin-ale' after-party will be at The Tempest Inn until the early hours.

What’s the most exciting thing that has happened because of March of the Mermaids?

I think making the march actually become an annual event on the Brighton & Hove calendar is the most exciting thing in itself. Also the doors it has opened in meeting and collaborating with new people who share the same passions and ideas. I feel really lucky to live in a city where people embrace such events.

Photo by Karen Duckworth 

Do you have anything big planned for your Mermaids in the future? Is there a chance we’ll see more Mermaid Marches happening in other parts of the country?

I would love for March of the Mermaids to grow, other parades or events around the country would be a dream. The main issue we have at the moment is with funding and finding sponsorship so that we can grow and open up new doors. My other big dream is to set up a mermaid swimming school in Brighton, organising everything could really be a full time job ... so many ideas I would love to do!

Photo by Julia Claxton

Give us one reason why people shouldn’t miss out on March of the Mermaids this year.

It’s a lot of fun and for a very good and important cause!

If you didn't know about March of the Mermaids, you definitely do now! The 2015 March is happening on Saturday 18th July - you can find the event on Facebook and there is information about WhaleFest and World Cetacean Alliance here!

Let me know if you're going and what your costume would be!